Liberal Arts Blog —“Connection, Composure, Toughness, Resiliency” — Kirby Smart, University of Georgia, Bulldogs Head Coach
Liberal Arts Blog — Saturday is Sports, Dance, Fitness, and All Things Physical Day
Today’s Topic: “Connection, Composure, Toughness, Resiliency” — Kirby Smart, University of Georgia, Bulldogs Head Coach
Thanks again to Jacob Russell for his thoughts on the importance of body language shared last week. The title of today’s post is taken from Jacob’s note. And in fact the rest of today’s post consists of excerpts from his post reflecting my view of the importance of Jacob’s comments which may not have been noticed by some. Also, it is my strongly held view that repetition is key to memory and that this overwhelmingly important fact is too often ignored or under-appreciated.
A little reminder on Kirby Smart: coached the Bulldogs to two consecutive national championships in 2021 and 2022.
“In May 2024, Smart and Georgia agreed to a ten-year contract extension worth $130 million, once again making him the highest-paid coach in college football history.” His overall head coaching record is 105 to 19. His Bowl record is 9–3.
“Kirby Smart’s Program Pillars: 1. Connection — “We are stronger together than apart.” 2. Composure — “Lock in on what you have to do, lock out all noise.” 3. Resilience “Get knocked down, get back up.” 4. Toughness “We are going to have grit and toughness, not just talent.”
Did you ever have a great coach in any sport? One that had a lasting impact on your life? What are their words or disciplines that echo in your memory and your daily routines?
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
“BAD BODY LANGUAGE IS A CONTAGION ON A TEAM WHERE THE EXTERIOR REPRESENTATION OF ONE AFFECTS THE INTERIOR OF OTHERS” (Jacob Russel)
1. “Fatigue and sulking the two main culprits for bad body language.”
2. “During practice, coaches would often make players do burpees if they were found with their hands on their knees or sauntering around.”
3. “Practice needs to be more intense than the games for optimal performance under pressure, and bad body language has to be purged before it makes its way to game day.”
“ONE WHO EXHIBITS BAD BODY LANGUAGE BECOMES AN INDIVIDUAL CONCERNED WITH THE SELF, SEPARATE FROM THE REST OF THE TEAM”
1. “When one person is physically representing a negative emotion or fatigue, it is a distraction and it then makes others consider their own fatigue and gloom.”
2. “Football is a sport built on culture, and cancers need to be purged in all forms.”
3. “Players who exhibited bad body language would become targets for the opponent. “
NB: “A cornerback who physically shows exhaustion of frustration would become prime target for a go ball. A tight end who did the same would then be tasked with pressure to his side when he was in protection. Football is a game of momentum — positive momentum builds upon itself to form a rhythmic cohesion from play to play and player to player….”
“BAD BODY LANGUAGE TEARS AWAY AT EACH OF THESE TENETS (Connection, Composure, Toughness, Resiliency)”
1. “There has to be intelligent coordination in physicality all occurring inn 4–6 seconds.”
2. “Football is unique in that we watch everything from practice and games right after. You relive the best and worst moments.”
3. “Imagine if you were filmed at every moment of your own job, then having to evaluate it, and be scrutinized by your superiors.
NB: “This is a blessing in the end, as it helps develop overall awareness and erases the ego.”
CONCLUSION
“So it is important for all of us to be aware of body language in our own lives. How you represent yourself can have that impact of positive or negative momentum…but the good thing is that it is all in our control.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirby_Smart
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Mehrabian
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
For the last four years of posts organized by theme:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned this week related to sports, dance, fitness. Or the coolest thing you learned about Sports, Dance, of Fitness in your life — whether on the field, on the dance floor or in the gym, whether from a coach, a parent, a friend, or just your own experimentation.
This is your chance to make someone else’s day. Or even change their life. It’s perhaps a chance to put into words something you have never articulated before. And to cement in your own memory something cool you might otherwise forget.
Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart.
